Jasmine furrowed her brow and tilted her head. “Did he say that?”
I faced forward again. She gave me nothing, so I’d give nothing back. It didn’t matter. If she didn’t care that I might have cursed the inn, it was probably for the same reason I didn’t care she did it.Ifshe did, that is.
I went looking for rune stones that night. Willorunia had told me they wouldn’t appear if I was looking for them, so it was to be expected that I found nothing. I didn’t know how I was supposed to locate them if I couldn’t search. I considered routine evening walks, but if the point of the walks was to find the rune stones, wouldn’t that be the same as searching? No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t think of a walk as anything but a search.
Of course, I tried anyway. No luck.
Maybe I could leave the rune stones. We were getting business again, after all. Not much, but enough to get by. Maybe I could sell the inn and let the new owners take care of it. I decided to get in contact with a land seller and see what I could do. The inn would be better off without me, anyway.
It wasn’t until two days later I remembered the letter from my grandfather. I had been in such distress about Jasmine and Sterling that I had completely forgotten about it.
One snowy evening, I left the comfort of the inn to walk along the river, where no one could call for me while I was having a breakdown over my grandfather’s last words.
I shivered violently as I followed the riverside path. Snow drifted from the sky, filling the air around me. The sun was setting, and it would soon be too dark to read.
I crossed the bridge and ventured into the snowy forest, stopping when I found a fallen tree trunk. I brushed the snow away and sat down to unfold the letter, lighting a magic flame in my palm. My eyes welled at the sight of Grandpa’s handwriting. I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand and began reading.
Dear Cassian,
If you’re reading this letter, I’m long gone. Or you’ve gotten into my things, in which case, put this letter down right now, young man, or I’ll tell your father on you.
I coughed out something that could have been a cry or a laugh. Maybe both.
If I am gone, you know by now that I’ve decided to leave Fibbersnap Inn to you. Now, I know you don’t like the innkeeping life because you don’t like saying goodbye to new friends every day, but I believe that’s exactly what makes you perfect for the job. You care about people, and you always have. You and I share the same fascination with strangers, such that we’d both prefer if there were fewer.
Fibbersnap Inn has many regulars. Some of the people who stay here are dear friends of mine whom I’ve known for years, simply because they chose to stop here one day and returned again and again. I don’t want you to feel like I’ve left you with an obligation for the rest of your life. You can do whatever you like with the place when I’m gone. I’ll never know. It’s yours now. I only have two requests:
1. If you decide you don’t like the innkeeping life, I hope you’ll transfer ownership to Jasmine. I was originally going to leave it to her mother, but, gods rest her soul, she’sgone. I chose you over Jasmine because I want you to give it another chance, and that’s my second request.
2. Give it a real go. If you put your heart into innkeeping, I believe you’ll love it as much as I do. Every day brings a stream of goodbyes, yes, but it also brings a parade of hellos and how-are-yous and how-are-the-kidses. Most of the goodbyes are temporary, but the hellos linger, and they add up. I hope you stay long enough to see that.
Unfortunately, not all goodbyes are temporary. Dang it, we’ll just keep this one between us.
I love you and I’m proud of you, Cassian. See you around.
My tears were freezing my face by the time I finished reading, and I couldn’t stop them. Willorunia was right. Grandpa just wanted me to be happy. He didn’t mind if I chose not to run the inn, but he wanted to give me a chance at the life that brought him years of happiness.
I folded the letter and slid it into my pocket, admiring the white forest. The only imperfections in the fresh snow were my own footprints. The snow continued falling, layering the scenery with tranquility. Fibbersnap Inn sat beyond the river, smoking from its chimney and glowing from within.
Perhaps Grandpa was right. I had enjoyed my time running the inn so far, aside from all the failure. I would love to give it a fair shot, except that I couldn’t locate the rune stones.Willorunia had helped me as much as she could, but it was up to me to fix it.
I sighed and held my head in my hands, wondering what to do. Searching for the stones had produced nothing, and business hadn’t picked up enough to be sustainable in the long term.
The sound of a horse’s snort behind me made me lift my head. I turned around just as a white wisp of a horse tail disappeared behind a tree. How was there a horse out here? It was far too cold for any kind of animal to be out. Did the horse need help? Maybe I could bring them back to the stable for the night.
I stood up to investigate but noticed the horse’s hoofprints led to a melted puddle of snow in a clearing. That hadn’t been there before.
I kicked through the snow to examine the puddle, and I gasped when I saw what waited beneath the rippling water. It was a rune stone.
My hand flew out to retrieve the stone before it could get away from me. This one had different engravings from the first, but I still couldn’t understand them.
Had the horse found this stone for me? I scanned the forest to check for the animal, and then I realized it might not have been a horse at all.
I clutched the stone tight and followed the hoof prints. I didn’t want her to think I was hunting her, but maybe she would lead me to other stones.
I followed the prints deep into the quiet forest. If not for the warming spell, I’d be afraid of freezing to death, but I was too curious.
I rounded a tree and stopped at the sight. A large white animal ahead stood about ten feet ahead. She glowed with how the moonlight reflected off her white hair, or maybe shewasglowing. Two feathery wings protruded from her back, whichshe held folded against her. Her white mane blew down her neck as if she were standing in a breeze, but it was not windy.
